It only takes 2 weeks of inactivity to impact your health

As the world bends down for the second wave of Covid-19, flu season and winter, people also face a serious risk from reduced physical activity – especially the elderly. Developing a physical activity plan now will help keep you strong and healthy for the long winter ahead.

While most people are aware of the benefits of physical activity – increased muscle mass and strength, reduced risk of disease, better quality of life, and lower risk of death – we tend to be less aware. of how reduced physical activity can be damaging and costly. be.

The loss of muscle and strength with age (called sarcopenia) is something we are all familiar with. We’ve all heard older family members say, “I’m just not as strong as I used to be” or “I can’t do this anymore.” But did you know that inactivity can make muscle loss worse?

Health effects of inactivity

Physical inactivity can be imposed on a person by an acute event such as a broken arm or leg, or be bedridden due to illness. However, reduced physical activity, such as step reduction, is a long-term choice that has multiple negative health consequences.

Insulin resistance (a warning sign of the development of type 2 diabetes), reduction in muscle mass, increased body fat, and poor quality of sleep are just a few of the problems with health caused by physical inactivity. Physical inactivity is also a major contributor to poor mental health and social isolation, which can be particularly problematic for older people.

The health effects of inactivity begin to accumulate within days.

Researchers at McMaster University have shown that reducing the number of daily steps to less than 1,500 – similar to the activity level of people confined to the house during this pandemic – for just two weeks can reduce sensitivity by up to a third insulin from an elderly person. The same period of inactivity also led people over 65 to lose up to four percent of their leg muscles.

To make matters worse, once an older individual loses muscle it is much harder to restore. Even when the research subjects returned to their normal daily routine, they did not regain their lost muscle. In fact, older people just don’t have the same bounce back ability as younger people.

Muscle recovery requires deliberate effort. So it’s really about using it or losing it.

Resistance is not in vain

As a muscle physiologist with a keen interest in healthy aging, I’m happy to report that all is not catastrophic. There are some things you can do – resistance exercise and eat your protein – to keep and even build muscle, get stronger, and maintain your health for this winter and beyond.

The most effective way to maintain the muscle you have is through weight training, or resistance exercise, which, in simple terms, means performing work against an extra load. And it doesn’t have to be complicated. If you have access to a gym to use free weights and guided motion machines, that’s great. However, there are a lot of great alternatives that you can easily do at home. Bodyweight exercises such as push-ups, squats and lunges, bungee exercises and climbing stairs are just a few options that will help you meet the Organization’s latest physical activity guidelines. world health.

The good news for those who may be put off by the noise of resistance exercise is that any exercise with a high stress level will help you get stronger and prevent (at least some) muscle loss. If for some reason it is not possible to do resistance training, simply adding a walk, a bike ride, or low intensity strength exercises such as yoga or Pilates to your routine daily can have significant physical and mental health benefits.

Protein and muscle

Of course, eating healthy and avoiding overeating are also essential for staying healthy. Foods high in protein are especially important because they make you feel fuller for longer and provide building blocks for your muscles.

It is generally accepted that older people need more protein than current guidelines suggest.

A good, easily achievable goal would be to eat 25 to 40 grams of protein with each meal (about one or two palm-sized servings). This equates to about 1.2 to 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body mass each day. Plus, getting your protein from both animal (dairy, meat, fish, and eggs) and plant (beans, nuts, seeds, and lentils) sources can be beneficial.

Given how quickly inactivity and poor nutrition can erode your strength and health, doing something now is the best way to get through the cold, dark winter and beyond.

This article was originally published on The Conversation by James McKendry of McMaster University. Read the original article here.